Small flash-memory cards have become increasingly prevalent and have replaced floppy disks for data transport. Reduced prices and advances in technology for flash-memory chips have produced larger memory capacities in multiple, diverse form factors, and advances in chip packaging have allowed for smaller physical sizes of flash-memory cards.
A flash-memory chip may be soldered to a printed-circuit board (PCB) or a flex carrier substrate that is then encased in a plastic shell that exposes metal contacts. The metal contacts engage a connector plug when the flash-memory card is plugged into a host, such as a personal computer (PC), cell phone, digital camera, or other microprocessor based computing device. A flash controller may be integrated with the flash-memory chip, or may be a separate chip soldered to the PCB or flex carrier. For writes, the flash controller receives commands, address, and data carried from the host over a host bus to the metal contacts, and sends corresponding control, address, and data signals to the flash-memory chip.
A number of protocols are used for the host bus, and standards have been developed that specify the physical dimensions of the flash-memory card as well as the host-bus protocol.
Legacy standards such as compact-flash (CF) specified large, thick devices. More recent standards such as Sony's Memory Stick or Secure Digital (SD) demonstrably reduced the flash-memory card thickness.
Additional improvements in packaging and flash-memory card construction have yielded even smaller flash-memory cards. An extension of SD known as microSD yields a flash-memory card nearly the size and thickness of a US dime coin, although the microSD card is rectangular and lighter than a dime. An extension of Sony's Memory Stick, known as a Memory Stick Micro (M2) is similar in size and thickness.
FIG. 1 shows several prior-art flash-memory cards. SD card 36 is a Secure Digital (SD) card that has a series of metal contacts 14 exposed along one edge. Metal contacts 14 mate with socket contacts in a host when SD card 36 is inserted into a host. Metal contacts 14 include power, ground, and other signals such as data lines, a clock, command, and card-detect signals.
Memory Stick 38 is a Memory Stick Duo or PRO Duo flash-memory card. SD card 36 and Memory Stick 38 are mid-generation devices and are larger in size, being roughly an inch in length and about 2 mm in thickness.
Newer-generation devices include Memory Stick Micro 32 (M2) and microSD card 34. These devices are about a quarter of the size of earlier-generation cards, such as SD card 36 and Memory Stick 38. MicroSD card 34 has a reduced thickness of only 1 mm, while Memory Stick Micro 32 is 1.2 mm in thickness. Metal contacts 16 are smaller, and may have longer contacts for power and ground to connect power and ground before other signals are connected during insertion.
FIG. 2 highlights a problem with the smaller flash-memory cards. The extremely small size of microSD card 34 (the size of a fingernail) makes accidental loss of the card more likely than for the larger cards. MicroSD card 34 could slip out of a person's hand, or pass through a small hole in a person's pocket without notice. Memory Stick Micro 32 or microSD card 34 could easily be lost on a messy desk at work or at home.
Loss of a flash-memory card is quite undesirable, not just due to the cost of the flash device itself. The data stored on the flash-memory card may be critical data. Loss of such critical data may lead to identity theft or compromised trade secrets. Address and phone lists of customers could be useful to a competitor. A spammer may use a list of email addresses found on a lost flash-memory card, to the embarrassment of the owner of the lost flash-memory card.
MicroSD card 34 could be inserted into an adapter for a larger format, such as an adapter between microSD card 34 and SD card 36. The size of SD card 36, however, is still somewhat small. Credit-card-sized carriers are available for carrying a car key in a person's wallet for emergencies, and a similar carrier could be used for carrying SD card 36 in a wallet.
What is desired is a credit-card-sized flash-memory card carrier that fits in a person's wallet. A credit-card-sized flash-memory card carrier that can e adapted to carry multiple kinds of flash-memory cards is desirable. A flash-memory card carrier that has a size similar to a credit card is desirable so that the carrier could be placed into a person's wallet in place of a credit card. A credit-card-sized carrier is desirable for transporting micro flash-memory cards so that the micro flash-memory cards are not damaged, lost, or erased during transport.
The flash-memory card carrier has been developed in response to the present state of the art, and in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available flash-memory card carriers. Accordingly, the flash-memory card carrier has been developed to provide an improved flash-memory card carrier chassis with elements configured to minimize damaged loss, or erasure of at least one stored flash-memory card while maintaining carrier structural rigidity. The flash-memory card carrier also decreases manufacturing costs by using a flexible hinge element affixed to the carrier and releasably attached to an end of a flash-memory card to provide use of the flash-memory card while attached to the carrier. Alternatively, the flash-memory can be detached from the hinge element to allow the flash-memory card to reside within certain devices until the data transferred to the flash-memory card is transferred to other devices to prevent damage to the flash-memory card and loss of the data, thus overcoming many or all of the above-discussed shortcomings in the art.
The flash-memory card carrier solves many or all of the above-described problems by providing an improved enclosed carrier for flash-memory card transfer and storage. An enclosure chassis stores at least one flash-memory card, and includes at least one mounting surface having a flexible hinge element affixed to the carrier mounting surface and releasably attached to an end of a flash-memory card to provide use of the flash-memory card while attached to the carrier.
The flexible hinge element affixed to the carrier mounting surface damped enclosure chassis according to the flash-memory card carrier overcomes problems caused by having to manually handle flash-memory cards outside or detached from the carrier and lost, damaged or erased flash-memory cards caused by such limitations in the art.
A further objective of the flash-memory card carrier is to provide a lightweight and durable flash-memory card carrier capable of preventing flash data card loss, damage or unintentional erasure from point of data loading from a first separate device to the flash-memory card to point of transfer of the data from the flash-memory card to a second separate device.
Yet another principal objective of the flash-memory card carrier is to provide an efficient and inexpensive design, from the stand point of both the cost of the materials and the quantity of materials used in manufacture of the flash-memory card carrier. The flash-memory card carrier is also easy to manufacture. Additionally, the flash-memory card carrier is readily assembled such that data degradation or erasures are minimized during set-up and use of the flash-memory card carrier.
Another objective of the flash-memory card carrier is to provide a convenient and stable system and assembly to provide uniform data protection and stability for the data contained in at least one flash-memory card from a point of data entry into the at least one flash-memory card to a point of data transfer from the at least one flash-memory card.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION A flash-memory card carrier includes a chassis having a uniformly deep chassis bay portion. At least one flexible hinge element having one end affixed to the chassis at one end of the chassis bay portion is provided. A clip assembly on a second end of the at least one flexible hinge element is sized to receive and releasably hold a non-contact end of a flash-memory card. The at least one flexible hinge element, clip assembly and releasably attached flash-memory card are sized to be received and reside within the chassis bay portion for transport or storage to prevent inadvertent loss of the flash-memory card. The flash-memory card may be deployed from the chassis bay portion on the at least one flexible hinge element to be detached for use or used while connected to the carrier. The at least one flexible hinge element is operable and deformable to allow the second end of the at least one flexible hinge element and corresponding clip assembly and attached flash-memory card to reach a position orthogonal to the planar rectangular chassis side surface. An embodiment of flash-memory card carrier of includes a rectangular, uniformly deep chassis bay portion centered on a planar rectangular chassis side surface providing a storage of the at least one flexible hinge element, the clip assembly and the releasably attached flash-memory card within the bay portion below the planar rectangular chassis side surface. The uniformly deep chassis bay portion housing the flexible hinge element, the clip assembly and the releasably attached flash-memory card may have a backing or be open to both sides of the chassis.
An embodiment of flash-memory card carrier provides an assembly wherein the chassis, the at least one flexible hinge element, and the clip assembly further comprise plastic.
An alternate embodiment of flash-memory card carrier further includes a chassis having a uniformly deep chassis bay portion. At least one flexible hinge element has one end affixed to the chassis at one end of the chassis bay portion and a second end of the at least one flexible hinge element is affixed to a non-contact end of a flash-memory card. In this alternate embodiment of flash-memory card carrier the at least one flexible hinge element, clip assembly and attached flash-memory card are sized to be received and reside within the chassis bay portion for transport or storage to prevent inadvertent loss of the flash-memory card, and wherein the flash-memory card may be deployed from the chassis bay portion on the at least one flexible hinge element to be used while connected to the carrier.
This alternate embodiment of flash-memory card carrier further provides a rectangular, uniformly deep chassis bay portion on an upper corner of a planar rectangular chassis side surface providing a storage of the at least one flexible hinge element and the attached flash-memory card within the bay portion below the planar rectangular chassis side surface.
This alternate embodiment of flash-memory card carrier further includes at least one flash-memory card embedded in the chassis. A plurality of conductive wire leads within the at least one flexible hinge element electronically links the flash-memory card on the flexible hinge element to the at least one flash-memory card embedded in the chassis. The at least one flexible hinge element is operable and deformable to allow the second end of the at least one flexible hinge element and corresponding attached flash-memory card to reach a position orthogonal to the planar rectangular chassis side surface.
For this alternate embodiment of flash-memory card carrier the chassis and the at least one flexible hinge element further comprise plastic.
An alternate embodiment of flash-memory card carrier includes a chassis and a rectangular, uniformly deep chassis bay portion having a chassis backing and sized to receive and releasably hold a flash-memory card. The chassis bay portion is centered on a planar rectangular chassis side surface. A flexible cover element with one end affixed to one end of the planar rectangular chassis surface extends over the chassis bay portion to the other end of the planar rectangular chassis surface. The chassis bay portion includes a vertical adhesive strip on the chassis backing within the chassis bay to releasably hold the flash-memory card. The flash-memory card is sized to be received and reside within the chassis bay portion for transport or storage to prevent inadvertent loss of the flash-memory card. The flash-memory card may be deployed from the chassis bay portion for use by lifting the flexible cover element and detaching the flash-memory card from the vertical adhesive strip within the chassis bay.